If
by peanutbutter126
Summary: A word of two letters, infinite possibilities, and one solid reality.


I do not own Naruto or any of its characters.

Another random drabble that bullied me into penning it down while i was working on my other stories.

Warning: each point is an AU on its own. If something changed in one point, it won't apply to the other points.

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If

1) If the Nine-Tailed Fox had, by some chance and twist of fate, been defeated by means other than the Fourth Hokage's sacrifice, his newborn son would escape his present destiny of becoming the demon's jailor. Kushina Uzumaki would still die of child-birth, and Naruto Uzumaki would die with her existence. Naruto Namikaze would be a child sheltered from the dreads of life by his father, a child who was followed by ANBU until he became one at thirteen.

Naruto Namikaze would have many admirers and few friends.

2) If Hizashi Hyuga had not been sacrificed to the Lightning Country, Neji would not despise the Main House. Under the tutelage of his father and his own sheer talent, Neji Hyuga would grow to become a jounin by the age of twelve. Because of his acceleration, he would know Maito Gai as a colleague, and Lee and Tenten as a colleague's students.

He would come to regard Hinata as a sister and worthy candidate for the position of clan head, and would be the best man at her wedding with Naruto.

3) Similarly, if Madara Uchiha really had died when he should have, Itachi would not slaughter his clan and leave his younger brother a lusted avenger. Sasuke would grow up knowing love, this affection peeling away the cold demeanour that would not exist. When he first sees Naruto and Sakura, he would regard them as weak and worthless, but would sooner admit himself to be the same than accept that he valued his teammates as highly as his family.

And as for Itachi? He would smile.

4) If the Haruno had been a clan, Sakura, as the heiress, would not attend the academy with her peers, but rather stay in her family's compound and be tutored with their techniques, a wide and devastating variety of genjutsu. She would master them all and eventually become her teammate, Sasuke Uchiha's, greatest rival.

Her childhood isolation from those her age would make Sakura extremely lonely. When she entered the academy to be assigned her team, she looked longingly at the small friendship groups formed by the students. Then, as she trudged through the grounds, she would see a swing with a desolate-looking boy on it. He had failed the graduation exam two times. Sakura's clan taught her that weakness was intolerable, but she chose to sit with him until she was called. She said few words during her stay, but those that she uttered, the boy treasured.

During the Chunin Exams, Sakura would learn that his name was Rock Lee.

5) If Naruto did not desire to be Hokage, he would not become a ninja, but rather an assistant of the owner of Ichiraku Ramen. He would meet Sasuke and Sakura on one of his deliveries; while his legs got tired and he decided to take a shortcut, one of Sasuke's kunai would fly at him from the trees, and he would trip, yelp, and ultimately drop the ramen.

Sakura would be the first to approach him, apologising on her teammate's behalf and pulling a plaster to cover the cut that the kunai had induced. In her fluster, she would fail to notice that the cut had already healed, but Sasuke would, and he would demand to know if Naruto was a shinobi spy under the guise of a ramen runner boy. Naruto would indignantly refuse to answer, and as Sasuke profusely insisted and Kakashi rolled his eye in the background, the blond would offer Sakura the ramen for her kindness. It had not spilt, but he claimed that the customer would most likely fine him for the wait and the condition of his food.

The next day, when he went to work, he would find Sasuke waiting for him outside the ramen stand, with Sakura quietly insisting that they leave. Naruto would grin at the sight of Sakura, coolly ignore the Uchiha's suspicion, and offer them both a bowl of "Naruto's special".

Eventually, Sasuke gave up on the idea of the boisterous blond being a spy, but he and Sakura continued returning to Ichiraku Ramen every day after training.

Needless to say, Teuchi was _very_ pleased with his young apprentice.

6) If Ino had realised when she should have that Sasuke Uchiha was not the one for her – or Sakura, for that matter; he was too cold, too dangerous for either of them – she would be less of a loudmouth that Shikamaru marked her as, because she had no need to draw attention to herself or draw arms to battle against the other members of the Sasuke Fan Club™. She would be stronger, more dedicated, and she would come to value her teammates for who and what they were, not faulty replications of what she did not have.

She would still be friends with Sakura, though she would be dismayed when the pink-haired girl was announced to be teammates with Sasuke. Ino would be reassured by Naruto's contribution, because he represented everything that Sasuke was not – bright, exuberant, _alive_ – and would keep Sakura away from harm.

Ino would not trust Sasuke Uchiha, and she would eventually be the one to tear away his mind and life when the time came.

7) Alternatively, if Hinata had summoned the courage to approach Naruto in their academy days, they would have become fast friends. The Loser and The Failure. Hinata would have assisted her friend in his studies, and Naruto would not have failed the graduation exam. Mizuki would not have had a chance to frame him for stealing the forbidden scroll, but the Chunin's dark intentions would eventually be foiled by a suspicious Kiba and Akamaru.

Hinata's quietness would influence Naruto into being a little less loud. As a result, his grades at the academy would increase by a small standard, just enough for him to be ranked amongst the lower average of the class, erasing him of the dubbed title of "dead last".

Because of this and previous events, the Third Hokage and Iruka would eventually place Naruto with Hinata and Kiba under Kurenai's tutelage. During this period, Naruto would finally realise that Hinata fancied him, but by that time she would have come to regard him more as a brother than a possible lover.

Kiba would know this before either of them.

8) If the Shukaku had not been sealed in Gaara – or anyone, for that matter – the demon would roam free with the Three-Tailed Turtle, and its would-have-been container would not have become a ninja. The Fourth Kazekage would have decided that his youngest son was too weak, too fragile, to join the ranks of his shinobi. He would have killed the boy there and then out of fury and crushed expectations, but his wife, her life spared, would beg for Gaara's. Infuriated with her interruption, the Kazekage would kill her.

In light of her inevitable sacrifice, Gaara would survive. Kankuro and Temari would grieve over their mother's death, and he would join them, but when told of the reason behind her bereavement, would become monstrously protective of their youngest sibling. Gaara was all that Karura had left behind – they would be damned if they let their father's will taint him.

Gaara would mature into a warm-hearted, gentle civilian of the Sand. He would never meet Naruto face to face, but he would hear of the Sixth Hokage, and he would think to himself that Kankuro made a better Kazekage.

Most importantly, Gaara would not need to tattoo the kanji on his forehead, for he lived among it.

9) If, on first proposition, Jiraiya had accepted the role of Fifth Hokage, he would not need to take Naruto to find Tsunade for the position. Orochimaru and Kabuto would find the famed medic-nin to heal the snake Sannin's arms, and Tsunade would come very close to agreeing. On the day before the exchange, Orochimaru's arms for Tsunade's lover and brother, Shizune would implore her mentor to see reality, that her decision would be _wrong_. She would never know her master's final decision, because Tsunade would erase her apprentice's memories of her time with her before she went off to find Orochimaru.

Naruto would never get to know "Granny Tsunade", not because he never saw her, but rather because it was difficult to acquaint one's self with a lifeless body.

Out of rage, Jiraiya would draw the Leaf's alliance with the Sand to rage a war on the Sound. The renegade Sannin, with his useless arms unhealed and Kabuto dead, would laugh manically until Jiraiya plunged a kunai into his impossibly flexible neck.

Somewhere in the Fire Country, a dark-haired woman known as the Merciful Medic would smile and patiently explain to those who inquired that she had not been privileged with meeting the legendary Tsunade, let alone come under her tutelage.

10) Even if given the chance, Naruto Uzumaki would not have his life any other way.


End file.
